


Drabbles and Dribbles

by RedCrimez89



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days, The New Batman Adventures
Genre: Angst, Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s01e08 Growing Pains, Gen, Good Brother Jason Todd, Gotham Academy, Hair Dyeing, Heartbreak, Hurt No Comfort, Jason Todd Has a Heart, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Jason Todd is a red head, Memories, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Photography, Post-Canon Fix-It, Rebirth, Spoilers, Tears, The New Batman Adventures - Freeform, Tim Drake pre-robin, Young!Jason
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24689407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedCrimez89/pseuds/RedCrimez89
Summary: A series of BatFam drabbles that are entirely too short to be their own stories.
Relationships: Annie (DCAU)/Tim Drake, Jack Drake & Janet Drake & Tim Drake, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Comments: 6
Kudos: 82





	1. Inane Expectations (PreRobin!Tim)

**Author's Note:**

> So I wanted to challenge myself to a 500 word thing, but idk if this is actually 500 word so???? I also decided to write about Tim Drake because I haven’t written anything about him in particular. And I didn’t actually edit my work so there might be Grammer and spelling issues heh....
> 
> Edit: it’s not 500 words haha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim doesn’t know what he was expecting.
> 
> Photography was always a dumb little hobby anyway, right?

Tim doesn’t know what he was expecting. Maybe he was expecting them to drop everything and show up to this stupid event. Maybe he was expecting praise, a pat on the back and a job well done. But no such thing happened. Tim kicks his feet, staring down at his shoes. He should feel proud. The principal had said so when the event had begun. But Tim just feels disappointed and stupid. What had Tim expected? He doesn’t know, but this isn’t it.

His eyes scan the room. They pass over many proud parents and happy families, smiling children and pieces of photography. And it’s only now he realizes that he’s alone. No one has come to support him. No one has come to congratulate him. No one cares. Tim was silly to think anything would change. After all, the adults always leave. They’ll come back, tell you they love you and kiss you. And then out of nowhere, they’ll disappear and leave you to fend for yourself. It’s not like his parents approve of this hobby anyway. Even if they weren’t half way across the country, they still wouldn’t have come. In fact, they’d probably ban Tim from leaving the house for a while. Just to make sure he didn’t get any ideas.

They claimed his talent of photography wasn’t a notable career path. They explained that it was not beneficial and would not be tolerated. So he stopped. He stopped doing what he loved to gain their approval, to make them smile and nod at him. To make them _love_ him. To make them _want_ him. 

And he thought maybe, just maybe that taking part in this contest and winning would be enough to make them approve. Would be enough to deserve those smiles and nods and the pats on his back. 

And no matter how much Smart Tim voiced his concerns of this plan, Dumb Tim has refused to listen. He reaches down, grabs his school bag and heads to the exit. Tim pushes the door open, tears blurring his vision as he makes his way towards the bus stop.

He wishes he never came to the photography competition at all.


	2. Ultimate Black (Jason)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason has red hair turned black.
> 
> It takes one day for that to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is even shorter than the last 😅. But I wrote this when I was inspired by Jason’s red hair so I wrote this. I didn’t bother to make it longer or anything bc I was more dedicated to other projects I’m working on for my account. But hopefully it isn’t too bad. I’ll try and post something longer next time heh...

Jason stood amidst several shelfs of box dye, his eyes scanning over each one that passed. He’s been doing this for awhile. Dying his hair. His original red color is nice, sure, but he’s been changing it to black for so long it almost doesn’t feel right. Although, nothing in his life feels right anymore. Not since…

He ends up picking the same box dye as always. The color is named ‘Ultimate Black’ and has a girl on the front. ( Why can’t they put men on the front instead?) Jason picks up the box with a frown and checks out.

It’s not long before he arrives at one of his safe houses (one of the nicer ones this time.) Blue-green irises stare intensely at the reflection casted upon the mirror. He cards his fingers through ginger roots, stroking it away from his forehead. The motion reminds him of when Bruce used to do it. Of a time where Bruce would be the one running his fingers through Jason’s coils.

His vision becomes acid green from the memory.

The young man finds himself throwing the box away, not even bothering to try and get his money back. He stares at the mirror, a stupid little grin growing on his face. 

This is the new Jason. 

Not the old one from Crime Alley, not the street rat

This one is the one from the Lazarus Pit, the one that has different beliefs and dreams.

He’s been hiding behind his black hair for too long. Has been too scared to walk away from his ‘family’ and old life. Jason thinks he’s ready to change for the better. Shutting of the bathroom lights with that same expression, there’s only one thing present on his mind.

_He’s not a pawn to The Bats game anymore._


	3. Choking Hazards, That’s What They Are (Young!Jason)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suit ties are stupid.
> 
> Jason hopes this is a well known fact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I’m not dead aha. I’ve been working on other projects to post on here so I haven’t been on here much. I was going through my docs and I found this so I decided to post it. It’s not edited and probably a little OOC, but it’s something. Enjoy!

Ever since that night in Crime Alley with the Batmobile, a lot of things have changed in Jason’s life. So many things have happened, things he couldn’t have dreamt of from the previous months of his life. It’s funny really. That month’s ago Jason was just a street rat; A person who takes what they can find, and flows where the wind takes them. It's funny that now he’s the wayward ”son” of Bruce Wayne, a famous billionaire everyone in Gotham knows of. 

All Jason can think about is how much he _doesn’t belong here._ He stares at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, uncomfortably tugging at the collar of his Gotham Academy uniform. It consists of a white dress shirt, a crimson colored tie, a dark blue blazer with the school's logo, and beige pants. ( _Beige._ The school obviously doesn’t know what style is, because this ain’t it.) The clothing is immaculate and feels too proper on him, too elegant for a person of his ilk. It’s not as bad as wearing a full monkey suit to galas, but it’s still high on the scale of uncomfortableness in Jason’s perspective.

He’s too engrossed in his attempts to fix his stupid tie, that he doesn’t notice the approaching footsteps in the hall. He doesn’t notice as Bruce stands there silently, watching him struggle from the doorframe. Jason tugs at the tie with an exasperated expression blooming across his face. The boy grumbles about “ horrible outfit choices” and “ choking hazards” as his fingers fumble to secure it around his neck.

“ Need some help Jay-lad?” A deep, gravely voice asks with a hint of amusement lingering in it's tone.

The boy jerks up, letting out a long string of curses. His head whips towards Bruce with a small frown. “ Don’t do that!”

The man simply gives him a small grin, something rare and precious. It fills Jason’s chest with a certain warmth. One that he’s been lacking for awhile now. 

Bruce takes his silence as an invitation to stroll inside the room. The man is extremely grateful that Jason is the opposite of Dick; neat and organized, everything tucked away into its assigned position. He internally frowns at the thought. He really misses Dick. ( But he’s too afraid to pick up the phone. Too afraid to make things worse. Everything he touches dies eventually…)

Jason watches as Bruce walks towards him and kneels down in front of Jason. He reaches out, silently asking if this is okay. Silently asking if he is okay with Bruce helping him. Blue eyes stare at blue eyes and Jason weighs the Pro’s and Con’s. Eventually, he nods his head slowly, trust gleaming behind his eyes. It’s a new thing. A skill that is extremely difficult to maintain sometimes, but one that he keeps up anyway. Bruce gave him a chance and now Jason has to return the favor.

His mentor eyes him warily but nevertheless, fastenes the tie around his neck, fingers tying a knot with the ease of experienced hands. Jason gapes at him, sheer bewilderment radiating off him in waves. “ Alright. That’s it. You’re a meta. Some kind of evil vampire like all the rumors say. How is this possible?” He frowns slightly, pouting.

It takes everything in Bruce not to smile.( He feels the corners of his lips twitch up anyway.) “ Simple Jay. I practiced. Like you keep refusing to do.” 

The answer obviously doesn’t appease Jason because the indignant frown turns into a scowl. “ Because it’s stupid B! When am I _ever_ going to use such a pointless skill?” He asks, crossing his arms.

“ Everyday. Otherwise this will become a constant routine.” He smirks knowingly, making a show of fixing the cuffs of his sleeves and fixing the collar of his shirt. Heat rises in Jason’s cheeks, the irking feeling of embarrassment welling up in his chest. He feels like a kid. One that holds their parents hands while they walk down the street, asks them to tie their shoes and comb their hair. Jason is _definitely_ not one of those kids. He’s more than capable of taking care of himself, thank you very much. 

“ Bruceeeee….” he groans, pushing the man away with red cheeks. The man simply laughs to his dismay, no doubt amused by his protests of ”I don’t need your help” and ”I’m not a baby Bruce”. He lets out a ‘hmph’, grabs his school bag from the door, and escapes before Bruce can make any more attempts as swaddling him like a mother hen. 

As he heads down the stairs to meet Alfred, he cannot help but hope that this does become a routine. 


	4. The Best Way to Hide The Pain (Jason+Damian)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently red hoods are great for hiding last minute emotional breakdowns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Been awhile heh. I’ve been working on a lot of other stuff (check my profile if your interested) but I literally just finished this and decided I’m gonna post it because why not. It doesn’t really have a plot, not until the end at least, so don’t expect much. Also, I didn’t bother to proof read cause eww. Enjoy!

The tears were inevitable. He was bound to break down at some point, bound to crumble and fall until there was nothing left of his hard exterior. It’s been  years since Damian has cried, really cried. He’s talking about the kind of tears that leave you with a horrid headache once your done, the kind that come from the heart and soul as you sob, gasping for air in between every single whimper and pitiful noise that escapes you. Despite common belief, Damian has cried like that before. There had been many different instances. Like the time Damian nursed a stray kitten and a sick flock of birds. Or when he was nothing more than a clingy child, screaming for his Mother to come back and not leave for two months. Or even the time he had failed to impress his Grandfather along with many, many other situations as embarrassing as being afraid of the clapping of thunder.

It was stupid and unbecoming of a Wayne. Damian should cease his childish distress and tears, should quit sullying his heritage and surname. And despite those completely rational thoughts, the tears keep spilling down his cheeks, his green eyes an infinite source of tears. Damian reaches up with a gloved hand, ripping off his domino mask from his face. It leaves his skin irritated and red, causing him to flinch from the way his skin stings. It doesn’t matter. His eyes are red and puffy with dried tear tracks running down his face. A cold breeze passes over him, causing him to shiver. He regrets abandoning his winter cape on his rush to respite and quiet now that he’s shivering on top of a building, mask less and all.

The previous events leading to this moment seem blurry, untouchable. He tries to recall why he’d even left in the first place, why he had panicked when taking out a man who had tried to rob a woman. Robin had finished the job, zip tied him and left him amongst the trash filled alley way. He’d alerted the GCPS and grappled off, his nerves jumbled and panic rising in his chest. He searched for Batman (the one who he’s related to or the one who took him in, he doesn’t know). He looked for the one person that always managed to understand him, calm his nerves when they were all telling him to direct his anger and frustration out onto the first person who approached. But no one was there. It was just Damian.

He had left pretty quickly, shooting his grappling gun into the distance, running until his feet ached from the strain. And now he’s here, tear faced and weak, unable to contain the himself as he hunches over, ugly sobs escaping him. He clamps a hand over his mouth in an attempt to shut himself up but his body won’t obey his command to end this emotional breakdown. Damian thinks back to the woman and he green eyes, her golden toned skin, and the way she smiled. So much like.... like  _her_. It’s then and there he realizes what he’s missing and why he’s even here, snot faced and red. He misses a Mother who’s absent, one who hurt him in too many ways to count. He misses the soft smiles and forehead kisses, the long, reassuring embraces on humid dessert nights. And it’s so stupid, such an incredibly embarrassing thing to need or even want. Because he’s supposed to be invincible and impenetrable, emotionless yet proud. But now he’s crying simply because he saw a woman who happened to have the same chocolate brown hair that waves perfectly, the same forest green eyes and similar smile.

He’s weak.

The sobbing dies down into sniffles and he has a killer headache now, pounding loudly as a punishment for his emotional breakdown. He hears somebody land behind him, loud enough for him to be aware but soft enough so he cannot tell who it is. He reaches back for his hood, mentally cursing when he realizes it’s abandoned... somewhere. Damian huffs, his frustration with himself only growing. He doesn’t bother to turn around and acknowledge the person behind him, too embarrassed by his red face and shaking limbs.

“ Hey brat, we were lookin’ for ya you know. Daddy Bats got worried real - hey? What happened to your cape?” Great it’s Todd. He’s probably here to humiliate me further, Damian thinks. Damian stays quiet, not trusting himself to speak.

“ Aye, can’t you hear I’m talkin’ to you?” The footsteps get closer until The Red Hood is standing over him with a clear view of his face. Damian tilts his head away, wishing he hadn’t taken off his mask or lost his cape. He doesn’t hear Todd for awhile, but he knows he can still feel his presence. After awhile, he opens his mouth to speak after (for the most part) collecting himself, only for a helmet to be placed upon his head. Damian immediately reacts, turning to send a jab towards the older man. Jason catches his wrist. “ Jeez, calm down.”

Damian stares at him, searching his eyes for any sign that could relay his intentions but finds nothing bad. Todd releases his wrist and shrugs his leather jacket off, placing it around Damian’s shoulders. He slides his arms in, feeling engulfed by the piece of clothing. It’s too big for him and smells like Gotham; alcohol and cigarette ash along with a hint of alleyway trash. Nevertheless, Damian appreciates the gesture. “ You know,” Todd says, tone serious as he sits beside him, shoulder to shoulder. “ That helmet is great for a lot of things. Including gun fights, being smashed over the head and days where you don’t wanna show your face.” The pitiful attempt at humor makes Damian huff in amusement, a small smile on his face.

And if Todd was right about one thing, then it was the fact the helmet was good for hiding his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the pin this story is based off of: https://pin.it/2OhuOFD


	5. “ I miss you Annie...” (Robin!Tim Drake/Annie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim will never forget the bright girl he loves so dearly. He swears his life on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING!! THIS STORY DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS TO EPISODE 8: GROWING PAINS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION ⛔️**
> 
> So I’ve been watching Batman The New Adventures recently, and when I got to episode eight, I thought Tim and Annie were so freaking cute! I swear the entire time I was like “ Come on Tim! Go get your girl!” Lol. I think they had so much potential but sadly, that episode ended with Annie returning to Clay-face in order to save Tim. So consider this my coping mechanism to deal with the fact they don’t, and probably never will, end up together despite how cute they are together. I may post more Tim/ Annie stories in the future, as I’ already have more ideas but for now, enjoy!

It’s been a month since it all when rolling downhill. A month since he met her. A month since they touched. A month since she died...

The pain is... hard. It’s something that never really goes away, just floats above him like a grey rain cloud in the cartoons. He thinks about her ever night; Annie. He thinks about her when he wakes up, and when he’s eating lunch, and even when he’s getting ready for bed or swings through the maze of skyscrapers that is Gotham City. Tim continues to think about her and those soft, kind eyes. He thinks about her gentle features and the way she looked so beautiful when it was only them, darkness, and a lonely street lamp on the roads.

He thinks about how quickly he’d fallen for her, and how quickly her life had ended. How it’s all his fault that Annie could no longer breathe or see or  live.  If Tim had been stronger, she wouldn’t be lost in the mass of clay and goop that was Clay-face. She’d be here with him, possibly going to school and living the life she actually deserves rather than being entirely forgotten about for the rest of eternity. Timothy would never forget her of course. How could he when he remembers the joy being around her and holding hands with her, even just talking to her brang? How could he possibly forget about the fluttering feeling he had when he saw her, the way his cheeks flushed and thetight hugs they shared?

He couldn’t was the simple answer.

Tim would not forget about her.

He wiped stray tears that travel down his face with the back of his hand, sniffing in the dark all alone by himself. Tim lays in the dark for awhile, too nauseous from the memory of her being enveloped by Clay-face to even move and inch. “ I miss you Annie... I wish you were here....” He whispers into the vast darkness as more tears pool in his eyes.

Eventually, he falls back into slumber, dreaming of a world where Annie survived and they’d get together and he’d finally be happy again. When he wakes up he’ll be down and disappointed. Heck, he may even cry again because of the fact she’ll never get to be alive again or because he misses her so much it feels unbearable. But that’s okay, isn’t it? Because sometimes, there just aren’t any happy endings.

* * *

That night, a puddle of clay oozes from the sewer and into a dark alley. It moves along the ground, eventually stoping and slowly morphing into a teenage girl with dark brown hair, a choppy brown bob cut, and a red sweater, yellow shirt, and black skirt to finalize her outfit. She lays on the ground, seemingly lifeless. Minutes pass and she gasps for air, eyes shooting open from her rebirth. “ R- Robin...?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and constructive criticism are highly encouraged!


	6. A Story From A Broken Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a boy in bright candy apple red who roamed the streets at nights darkest point.
> 
> Always seen, but never heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of wish I wrote more for this but I feel like less is more in this situation.
> 
> I wrote this mainly for fun and to get back into the groove of writing things. Obviously it kind of failed since this was supposed to be much longer then it actually is but I think it’s short and sweet.

There was a boy.

He roamed the streets at nights darkest point with no clear intentions, just taking life as it went. This boy had no name, had no face. He did not even have the words to convey his very thoughts and feelings, or therefore lack of.

He was an empty shell. A dead man walking among the living with nothing to lose and nothing to gain.

The alley knew it. The neighborhood knew it. Every single person who stood witness knew it.

He held no feelings nor ability to communicate. He had no voice, no home, not even a family that could be somewhere far far away.

It was just the boy in the candy red hoodie, sticking out of the crowd but still blending in so perfectly. (Like he had always been there in the first place.)

He was a shadow.

He was one of them .

And so there was a boy in bright candy red who kept walking, always seen but never heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it’s somewhat obvious that I’m talking about Jason? If not I feel kind of stupid lol
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism are highly encouraged as always <3
> 
> (P.S I will be getting to the prompt fic and stand alone stories soon for those who are interested. Just thought I’d try and warm up a little bit before I began.)


End file.
